§ 42-16  EXCAVATIONS GENERALLY.
   (a)   No person shall break, injure, tear up or remove any pavement, sidewalk, crosswalk, curbing, street, lane, alley or road surface or make any
excavation in or under any street, lane, alley or sidewalk within the City for any purpose whatever, without first having obtained permission of the City Council. It shall be the duty of every person breaking, tearing up or removing any pavement, sidewalk, crosswalk, curbing, street, lane, alley or road surface, or making any excavation in or under any street, lane or sidewalk as speedily as practicable, and under the direction and supervision of the Division of Public Works to replace, relay and make good and put in as good order and repair as before to the satisfaction of the Division of Public Works, every such pavement, sidewalk, crosswalk, curbing, street, lane or alley, as the case may be. All excavations shall be backfilled with earth which shall be thoroughly and solidly tamped in layers not to exceed eight inches in thickness; except, that under pavement, sand and gravel shall be the type of earth used. If the earth shall settle, the person shall fill the same from time to time as may be necessary to the satisfaction of the Division of Public Works. Every such person and the contractor or other person by whom the work is done, shall erect and maintain a good and sufficient fence, railing or barrier around every excavation made by him or her in such a manner as to prevent accidents and shall place and keep on the fence, railing or barrier suitable and sufficient red lights during the night, and take such further care and precaution as the Division of Public Works may deem necessary and direct for the protection and safety of the public.
   (b)   On paved streets the permit shall not be deemed to have authorized any person to break, remove or rebuild, in whole or in part, any curbing or gutter for any purpose whatsoever. Whenever any person desires to have the pavement, curbing or gutter broken, removed or rebuilt in any street, alley or other public thoroughfare, he or she shall make application to the Division of Public Works for the work to be done; and if there appears to be no valid objection to the work, the Division of Public Works shall require a fee to be paid to the City Treasurer for every lineal foot of curbing or gutter to be broken or removed, or a deposit to be made sufficient to cover his or her estimate of the cost of rebuilding or reconstructing the curbing or gutter. The fee and deposit shall be established from time to time by resolution of the City Council, kept on file by the City Clerk, and contained in Appendix A of the City Code. When the payment has been made, the Director of Public Works shall issue the necessary orders to have the work done by City employees as soon thereafter as may be possible and he or she shall keep a record of all such applications in his or her office.
(Ord. 100, passed 8-3-1909; Ord. 1063, passed 3-17-1953; Ord. 2088, passed 10-21-1968; Ord. 3416, passed 2-8-1999)